Entertainment

Latest 'Once Upon a Time' Takes Mommy Issues to a New Level

The Snow Queen and Elsa face off in the latest episode of 'Once Upon a Time.'

Image: ABC/Jack Rowand

By Alyse Whitney2014-10-27 04:59:43 UTC

Just when you thought family connections couldn’t get any more complicated on Once Upon a Time, there was a major snowy curveball for Emma. After spending the entire episode tracking down the Snow Queen, Emma discovered the truth behind their past: the queen is her mom.

Well, at least her foster mom, at some point — the pieces of the puzzle still have yet to be put together. But that bombshell was just dropped in the last minute of the Swan Queen-centric hour. The rest of the episode, titled "Breaking Glass," revolved around Regina and Emma trying to work together and work through their problems as Elsa searched for Anna. With two big betrayals in the episode, neither were easy feats.

Snowy Face-Off

The episode kicked off with Elsa and Emma questioning the Snow Queen’s whereabouts and how she managed to swipe both of their memories. Their search is made relatively easier when Hook delivers a box of records from Regina's old office, which includes a bunch of creepy paparazzi photos that Sidney took of Emma when she first arrived in town.

When Emma spots one of her talking to the Snow Queen, she immediately runs off to question Regina. Elsa and her sequined pink cape tag along. (Speaking of Elsa's clothes, is she just re-washing that dress every day, or using ice to make it not smell? Because girlfriend has been wearing the same dress for five episodes now.)

Once there, Elsa insists on staying in the car so Emma and Regina can talk about things alone. But Emma should know better than to leave Elsa unsupervised. While she was busy trying to get help from Regina, Elsa was led straight to the Snow Queen.

Using an illusion of Anna screaming for help, the Snow Queen brought Elsa through the graveyard and deep into the woods to her lair. Poor Elsa thought that her sister was alive and well, but after she finally hugs "Anna," the Snow Queen makes her disappear and chains Elsa up with ice.

She just needs Elsa out of the way, she explains, and the more frightened she gets, the stronger the chains will hold. "What are you going to do?” Elsa asks. "I'm going to build a snowman,” the Snow Queen replies. That snowman, we discover, is just another ice monster that attacks Emma and Regina.

Trying to Melt the Evil Queen's Heart

Every time Emma and Regina interact in this episode, it’s basically Emma trying to fix things and Regina completely shutting her down. And it all makes for a very awkward mission.

There is a moment of teamwork, though. They combine their powers to defeat the ice monster after their attempts to do so individually don't work. (Just like that time in the mine shaft.)

Unfortunately, they can’t celebrate for long since the Snow Queen puts them both in chokeholds and steals Regina’s mirror. They escape any harm thanks to a flash of Elsa's magic, and then the Snow Queen disappears again.

Where to? Her ice palace, of course, where she meets up Sidney, who has betrayed Regina big time and is working with the Snow Queen so he can finally be free.

It works — the Snow Queen frees Sidney but doesn't want his help. Instead, she just wanted Regina’s mirror, filled with dark magic, which she breaks and uses one piece in a giant Magic Mirror she has in her lair. She just wants what has been "denied" to her for too long, which we find out is "a family that loves me." This statement doesn't truly make sense until the end of the episode.

Mending Relationships and Shocking Reveals

Toward the end of the episode, Emma comes to Regina again to try to convince her that they should fix things. Surprisingly, this happens by Emma opening up about her past and her friend Lily, who we met in flashbacks. Lily betrayed Emma and Emma was never able to forgive her. She doesn’t want to make the same mistake again with Regina, she says, since no one else understands what it feels like to be rejected — especially her parents.

"Somehow it makes us unique, or maybe even special. I wasn’t looking for you to assuage my guilt — I was just looking for you to be my friend," Emma tells Regina. “I'm not going to stop trying, even if you still want to kill me.” But instead of a snarky comeback, Regina just says, “Emma, wait. I don’t want to kill you.” And that, kids, is the story of how Regina and Emma became friends. And that's the closest Swan Queen fans will probably ever get to fan fiction coming true.

Back at the station, Emma finds a camcorder that she had back in the day and sits down to watch it with Hook. After watching some footage of her and her friend, Lily, which we saw in flashbacks, she sees a little boy talking right to the camera and teasing Emma. But before he can say much, the Snow Queen walks into the frame to tell him to stop. Yes, the freakin' Snow Queen.

It seems like she's Emma's foster mom, or perhaps even an adoptive mom, but, of course, Emma has no memories of it.

How long were they together and what was their relationship like? We'll have to wait and see, but at least we know that Emma’s memories were wiped sometime in season one's timeframe — that’s when Regina had Sidney snapping photos of her, at least. Sound off with your theories below. Alyse Whitney is an entertainment writer whose life revolves around her DVR conflicts and all things Shonda Rhimes. Her work has appeared on MTV, POPSUGAR, TVLine, Wetpaint, and more. Follow her on Twitter @AlyseWhitney.

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